I went the game last Friday and they didn't look too good. Grossman misplayed two balls and then when he finally caught something people were cheering. It was kind of funny. Jose altuve is your 3 and 4 hitter? Altuve(maybe), Castro, Cosart, fowler (maybe), and Feldman are the only guys I really see having a future with this team. They need to have something out there that fans can kind of identify with with. They need to start bringing guys up en mass. If they suck bring someone else. Astros are competing for the title of worst franchise in sports. They might already be there.
They've already made history going back to back to back 100+ loss seasons (IN TWO LEAGUES!) Might as well go for the 4 peat. What is really sad is if the Stros lose less than 110 games that will be an improvement.
The Astros have the best farm system in baseball, they will get BETTER (no way to know how much better), the question is WHEN? 2015? 2016?
The Royals and Pirates also had some of the best farm systems in baseball for years before they had any real MLB success (and in the case of the Royals, they still haven't had that full break-through season like the Pirates had last year). The Rays had to lose close to 100 games for 10 consecutive years before finding consistent success. The Orioles had 14 losing seasons before this recent surge. The Cardinals were never bad, and still were able to build up a farm system that continues to put out great talent. I'm not presuming the Astros current minor league core will be the "answer". Certainly has to be better than what they have now, but getting that core to translate to consistent MLB success requires not only supreme talent evaluation, but a good amount of "luck" as well. The real question is, will there be a regime change if this current "rebuild" doesn't produce viable results within the next 4 years... if so, how long do you wait before trying a different strategy?
We need to keep in mind that the Astros have posted losing seasons in six of the past seven seasons and this year will undoubtedly be their seventh (and an eighth next year seems inevitable). I think they're further down the road than people realize. It's not like they fell off a cliff three years ago and started posting 100-loss seasons. They've been bad for some time. We shouldn't overlook an organization's infrastructure and development process. I'd be curious if those teams had success in the minor leagues with all those prospects. The Astros have, which indicates they've been able to develop all that talent, which is very encouraging. Another, I think, key difference: I'm not sure any of those organizations loaded their system as quickly as the Astros did, literally trading any and every player with any semblance of value. The amount of talent that has been pushed into their system since 2011 is staggering and feels a little unprecedented. I would guess those teams you mentioned were adding players each year in a much slower, more deliberate fashion (ie the draft and a few trades - though those teams never really developed a lot of core ML talent they could leverage; the Astros were lucky in that regard.) I’m not sure there’s a model for what the Astros have done. They have seemingly accelerated the overhauling of their system and packed years worth of growth into a much shorter time frame.
Luckily, our GM, who has taken the worst farm system to the top in a very quick fashion, spent quite a bit of time with the one franchise you listed that was able to build up a farm system that continues to put out great talent. I'm putting my money on we'll be more like the Cardinals (not saying we'll have that kind of championship success) than the Pirates or Royals.
As much as last year's team was terrible, a functional bullpen would likely have had them hovering around 100 losses. If Crain can solidify the bullpen, that will be huge (though he might then get traded midseason). Assuming any of the prospects that come up this year are any good, they have a pretty decent chance of missing 100 losses.
Except they aren't. The hallmark failure of the Royals and Pirates is that they had to trade their uber-prospects every few years and never got to build around them (see Carlos Beltran). The Astros have done no such thing.
In fairness: Yet. But that's the point - dismantling the organization was a necessary evil; they HAD to do it and anyone faulting them for it... But we have no idea what they'll do once the major league team gets competitive. To draw any conclusions about that, at this point - good or bad, feels pretty specious.
We have the words that came out of their mouths. I know that's not always the truth, but they have been very vocal that they will spend when the time is right. I don't think it's specious to believe that when they are competitive, they won't start selling off major league talent for prospects or not do their best to keep free agents. They didn't tear it all down and build it back up again in this dramatic fashion to become the Royals.
I agree with you.... as I said, the Astros will get BETTER.... but how much? Baseball isn't like the NBA and even the NFL to an extent..... high draft picks and what is perceived as a loaded farm system is not a guarantee of success.... The fact is an overwhelming majority of the players we are talking about in our system as prospects will not achieve long term success, and even less will achieve success with the Astros.... Just look at the system talent in the 90's...... Carlos Hernandez, Wade Miller, Tim Redding, Roy Oswalt, Brad Lidge, Johan Santana, Carlos Guillen, Freddy Garcia, Orlando Miller, Melvin Mora...etc.... few had long term success, and even fewer with the Astros.
If you just look at the offseason moves: 2014 Bullpen >> 2013 Bullpen Jesus Guzman > Carlos Peña Dexter Fowler > Rick Ankiel This year's team should be better than last year's. If the Astros do not have a 10+ game losing streak to end the season, they should lose less than 100 games. If they do lose 100+ games, Porter will be gone.
It really doesn't matter at this junction, I'll be rooting all year long. The Astros can only go up from here. I just hope I live long enough to see the dramatic turnaround. Go Astros!
I believe this, too. But we're years away from their plan actually being activated so... Still, it does seem silly to assume they're the Royals or Pirates; it's based on absolutely nothing. We have nothing to base that on.
Jim Crane hasn't shown that he's willing to spend money. Look at the silly game he's playing with Springer just to save a buck 6 years down the road. That's not a positive sign for the future.